Try Blind Hockey for Free

Try Blind Hockey for Free

Saturday, June 22 1:00 p.m.

Come try the sport of blind hockey for free! Join us at The Rinks - Irvine Inline to experience this awesome sport and help start a blind hockey program in Southern California. Come meet special guest and Team USA forward, Blake Steinecke. Blake has been playing blind hockey for two years and is honored to represent the USA in this sport. He is excited to share blind hockey with you.

The first session is on a roller rink, no skates required. Wear athletic shoes and be prepared for a time of fun, learning a new sport.

The most significant modification is that the sport features an adapted puck that makes noise, and is both bigger and slower than a traditional puck. Players' levels of vision range from legally blind - approximately 10% vision or less - to totally blind. Blind Hockey is an excellent spectator sport as it is easily recognizable to the average hockey fan, with minimal rule adaptations to help with gameplay and player safety.

Custom 3 foot high nets are used rather than the traditional 4 foot nets to keep the puck low and near the ice so it can make noise and be tracked aurally.

Teams must complete one pass in the attacking zone prior to being able to score. This provides both the low vision defense and the goalie an extra opportunity to track the puck.

An on ice official uses a different whistle to indicate that a pass has been completed and the attacking team is eligible to score.

Tag-up off-sides is used with the assistance of verbal communication from on ice officials. The game is played with standard IIHF safety protocols including no-touch icing, and crease violations to ensure utmost player safety.